Middle school students visit campus.
KALAMAZOO—Meeting April 18, the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees adopted a formal policy outlining the responsibilities of campus employees who are part of programs and activities involving minors.
The policy calls for employees and units to ensure that programs and activities carried out under the aegis of WMU:
- provide a safe and protective environment for participating minors;
- operate in compliance with a policies and requirements previously enacted by the board and president; and
- are operated by employees, students and volunteers who have the appropriate training to work with minors and are knowledgeable about state law and procedures for reporting child abuse.
The new policy background references earlier measures put in place during recent years. Those include the Duty to Report Criminal Acts policy, President John M. Dunn's Statement on Reporting Illegal and Unethical Activities and confidential reporting procedures put in place through a private firm called Ethics Point.
A new campus website—wmich.edu/legal/minors-on-campus—has recently been developed to support board and administrative policies on campus programs involving minors. The site includes a variety of resources, such as links to earlier University policy statements, information on best practices for working with minors, checklists, reporting tools and information about state agencies that can help ensure a safe and protective environment.